Loading...

HHS, ACA Applicants’ Data Hacked

In what is known in the news business as the “Friday afternoon dump,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced last Friday without fanfare that HealthCare.gov had been hacked and personal records accessed.

In an announcement on the HealthCare.gov website, the agency wrote; “In October 2018, a breach occurred within the Marketplace system used by agents and brokers. The breach allowed inappropriate access to the personal information of approximately 75,000 people who are listed on Marketplace applications.”

Marketplace is alerting by letter those who information was accessed, according to the agency’s announcement. Marketplace is run by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a division of HHS also responsible for HealthCare.gov.

Information accessed included personal data, including immigration status and employment information, of people who applied for coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Also accessed were names, birthdates, addresses and partial Social Security numbers.

The Friday afternoon dump is referred to as such because traditionally, people pay less attention to the news over the weekend. For more on the breach, go to https://www.healthcare.gov/how-we-use-your-data/